Dame Kiri Te Kanawa gave some celebrity weight to this year's Wanganui Opera Week and left a lasting impression on some of the singing students.
But the last time she was here her fame had yet to be established.
It was 1965 and the 21-year-old Miss Kiri Te Kanawa was a guest
artist at a concert held by the Wanganui Male Choir. She was one of eight students of Dame Sister Mary Leo who performed with the choir over 16 years throughout the 1960s and 70s.
The Wanganui Herald reported on the June 28, 1965 concert.
The report - filed by 'DF', possibly Dorothy F Abernethy - says Kiri first sang some solos with the choir then performed a bracket of her own, accompanied by pianist Muriel Tinker.
"Miss Kiri Te Kanawa, of Auckland, highly excited her listeners. having a mezzo-soprano voice of beautiful quality and power, musicianship in style and phrasing, excellent stage sense, and the gift of colouring words with tonal expression: all the ingredients necessary for the shaping of a fine singer seem to be hers.
"Her choice of songs was operatic. Arias by Puccini ranged from the supplication of Suor Angelica to One Fine Day (Madame Butterfly), and Vissi d'Arte (Tosca). Excellent characterisation was given to Une Voce Pocofa (Rossini) and we saw and heard a vivid Carmen in Habanera and Seguedille (Bizet). In response to demands she sang Songs My Mother Taught Me (Dvorak) and Waiata Poi (Hill).
"Mrs Tinker upheld the singer with her piano work, an essential asset to the choir as well. Floral tributes were presented to Miss Te Kanawa and to the other ladies."
The singer received £15 for her appearance. Dame Kiri was studying on a bursary from the Maori Education Foundation, and, two nights before, reached the finals in the Mobil Talent Quest. Choir member Dick Mitchell remembers the concert as a "fabulous night".
